A little birdy told me today that Berlin Speedway is about to change hands.. and that the baseball ownership group is getting out of the racing biz.

.. to which many racers will say... THANK GOD!

THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!! But, until I see it I won't believe it. We've all heard the rumors for quite a while now. I do however like Mike Streval and hope that he stays on. There are others who can go take a flyin flop into Lake Michigan.............

add to that most fans also!

Yeah.. All I've heard is good things about Berlin.

I must be out of the loop because I didn't know there was such a problem down there.

Last I heard car count had dropped from 120 to about 60.. their last big Late Model event only had 14 cars show up.

My impression is many folks were to endeared to the management style of the White Caps folks.

Long story... management and racers don't see eye to eye... read here for a better look. http://theracingshow.com/guestbook.htm Scroll way down and work your way back up. A careful reader may glean some info to answer some questions posed here.

I went to a very credible source today and asked......It's all still just a rumor.

It needs to change hands. They have nothing but single file follow the leader. Many of the racers stopped racing there and come to Kalamazoo once in awhile to watch or race. Way better racing and its affordable at Kalamazoo with their rules. More of the tracks in Michigan need to follow what Kalamazoo and M40 are doing with the best racing around. All the tracks in Michigan need to get the same rules and work together to keep short track racing alive. Cut expensses for the racers and work together on big show nites. Take turns having a nite off for a class and have a big show at one of the tracks. Get cars from other tracks and give you local guys a chance to race another track. Working together is the only way short track are going to survive and that is one thing Berlin does not see.

They have the pit barn. Their rules don't compare. Their shows are slow long and boaring. Evry other track around is running on the treaded tire most on the 970 and they are still on slicks with impound and 4 tire a night program.

This is totally false. They had 27 late models qualify for the Boyne race at the end of the year.

I'm sure the poster who stated only 14 showed for the last late model was talking about the last late model race of the season. If your talking about the Boyne if it wasn't for the out of towners there would have been the normal 15-18 weekly drivers. If one wants to know how Berlin has gone down since the Whitecaps have taken over go to their website and look at the car counts from when Chet had it to present. To the poster who said they haven't been to Berlin since Chet had it save your money until new owners take it over because you'll be totally heart broken to see what they have done to Chets pride and joy! It truely is a shame that someone like the Whitecaps would try their hand at racing of all things and instead of listening to those who could have helped them keep the drivers and teams and most importantly the crowd counts and the sponsors. All we can do is keep our fingers crossed and pray that they really do unload it to someone who cares what happens out there!

Yes, the Boyne race had more cars than the normal weekly field of cars. When the poster says 14 LM he's not kidding. We had nights that just 16 cars took the green. Just a few years ago there was a full field of last chance cars and cars loading and going home because they missed the show. I don't know.......Berlin has changed alot since the days I started going there and hell, in the last 4 years that I've raced there (well 3 years racing 1 year off) it's changed a ton! I love the track and some of the people but for the most part my feelings are that it's time for a change. On their behalf, they made some changes that probably made some of the fans more comfy but also alienated their hardcore (turn4) fans. I don't have any answers.........it's just really sad.

BTW, I hear the asking price is $2million

How do you prep an asphalt track so you can pass more on a weekly basis?

I belive they add something like coke syrup to the second lane and put up cones so in hot laps the cars only practice in the nonperfered lane to lay down more rubber

Coke syrup will make it sticky and I agree, practicing in the high groove will lay down rubber. I have raced on coke syrup before and it works, even though it is a little wierd at pace lap speeds.

The only sure way that I ever heard of for prepping an asphalt track is by dragging tires around for hours and hours just the way Jane did it when she ran Owosso. I never saw it but the story is that they chained together a bunch of old race tires and had the kids make laps (many many many laps) around the speedway dragging them behind atv's or whatever else they could drag them behind.

That is what I would do if I owned or managed a track. I truly believe that there is no such thing as a one groove race track. They are only one groove because nobody (or not enough people) has moved to the outside long enough to work it in and because the majority of racers set up their car for the shortest way around and that is usually the bottom or first groove.

As far as Berlin and the way it is being run. I would never comment on that as I have only been there once and that was a year ago. I had a great time and have nothing to compare it to. Personally, I was extremely impressed with the facility and the way I was treated by the staff and promoter.

That is what was done at Owosso, it also works well to dry the track in the event of a rain shower!

As far as Berlin is concerned, it isn't a 1 groove race track. You can pass on it. All the complaining about single file racing was because they put the SLM on a hard tire. They still did have passing and there were ocassions when cars did move from the middle of the pack to the front but for the most part if you started up front you pretty much were in contention to win from the get go. All the other divisions didn't seem to have a problem, there was 2 and 3 wide racing at times. Berlin laid something called "Lane choice 6" on the track this year and there were mixed views on it. I mean look at the tires the other divisions were on........sportsman has a rock with the 790, prostock has the 880 and super stock has the 970. I'm not really sure which tire the SLM were on this year but I know next year they are going back to a soft slick.

LMAO Rob you know that the sporty's, pro stock, and most of time the superstocks have no probs with the passing no matter what tires they have them on and how many they can buy weekly. I'd be willing to bet that if you looked at the amount of cars tore up this year in the slm there this year they had more race cars tore up then the last 5 years combined. Look at Freddy for example he destroyed how many cars 5 and he prolly hasn't destroyed that many in 10 years racing? Tim DeVos missing the last 8 weeks destroyed car. Hopefully next year will be a different story for the slm!

Stop crying and start driving!

The biggest problem at Berlin I can see (since moving to GR a few years ago) is the racers do not realize how good they have it. The point fund is huge, they race for a good purse every week, and have a top notch facility. Yet all a majority of them do is complain about the place. Many of the local racers at Berlin should leave the porch once in a while to realize how good they have it.

Oh I agree, they tore up cars left and right this year no doubt and that's why we have such a small field of supers out there. They got tired of tearin up equipment.

As far as payouts are concerned, I can't speak for slm, but I know other tracks are paying better in the so called lower divisions! It's one of my complaints as a matter of fact.

I never like to hear about ANY track struggling, or discontent within the fans and drivers. But when someone like myself, reads about all this at the track that arguably has been the "pearl" of local short tracks in the State of Michigan, is somewhat shocking. I have only been to Berlin 2 or 3 times in the last five years, but ANY time I have been there I am always so very impressed with the facility. The bathrooms are second to none, and the possibilities for food and beverage are top notch. You may have to jump over a pile of horse poop every now and then in the parking lot, but I've had to jump over worse at some other facilities!!!! And I have always seen wonderfully close, tight, exciting racing. I have always thought that Berlin was the track that the rest were always trying to measure up to. I mean NO disrespect with this next statement, but it is almost refreshing to hear that even the best tracks have their politics, and problems. No facility, or promoter is exempt from these conditions.

Something tells me y'all won't have to worry about it long. If someone does purchase it, I feel confident they will get that magnificent facility right back on track before too long. Not that it is really THAT bad right now, or is it???

I have heard that the property Berlin is on cannot be owned. (it is owned by the fairgrounds.) If this is the case 2mil is waaayyyy high! You can buy and own dixie for less, and it is an excellent facility.

From what I heard about Berlin, you are correct, in that you never own it, you just lease it from the fairgrounds. Doesn't sound like something I would want to shell out $2,000,000.00 for(if I had it).

I believe you are both correct in the lease part of the deal.. I e-mail a guy that use to live in the area that has some interest in the place this morning to see if I could get a low down on the rumor.. I was told he was out playing with his truck early this week, but someone would see if he could get back to me.. If 2 mil is for a lease that is very high for that place, or any place for that matter,, an outright buy would be another thing,, but I don't think you will ever get it away from the fairboard.

Yes, the fair board owns the property and you just purchase the lease to promote and run the track. I was told (man I shouldn't) the price is $2 mill because the "other investors" need to be paid back their investments. They were supposed to be paid back in 5 years and that never happened. Like I said.....no names mentioned but I know this person is a reliable source and very close to this situation.

...would just say...be careful of what websites you use to get information.

Never know when one may have an agenda against current management due to some unresolved pissing match.

I know someone who's looked at taking over the lease....$2 million is WAAAAY not what it would take.

Kalamazoo and M40 seen winners in the late models come from outside the top 10 many times this year. The treaded 970 cut down on the crashes in a big way. I think the biggest wreck I seen all year was 4 cars. The treaded tire allows the tire to cool fastest and the car can slide without being gone. I had a few times I had contact and got so far sideways I would have wrecked the dirt car and I lost about 7 car lengths and the tires came back in just a few laps. You can't do that on the slicks basides you have to buy 4 every nite to compete. The 970's were faster the second nite most of the time. The fastest set I had I ran over 300 laps on and they were faster then than my new set. Try that with a slick. Cut cost and more cars can afford to run all season. The passeing was awsome on the 970's. I went 3 wide at speed with no problem a few times at Kalamazoo. Not many track can have that happen without a crash.

My info didn't come from a website. I spoke to a person...as I said, close to the situation.

I guarantee you won't sell the 970 arguement to the LM guys at Berlin. They want the soft slicks back.

You can't compare tires between Kalamazoo & M-40...and Berlin. The differences in track size, shape, banking, and speed makes it an apples and oranges argument.

You will spend less and end up with more $$$ in Berlin's classes,than at most other track,s running your car[Sportsmen] to that track's rules. Your car would be considered a Limited Late at those tracks.

Yep, and it's about to be updated again with more stuff from the go fast box of tricks!

A paved track might want to look at the possiblity of progressive banking when repaving is needed. Many dirt tracks are prepared this way and it is becoming more popular on the paved nascar tracks.